AZ – 3:1 News (2)

Florida Gulf Coast Snook Harvest Closed for One More Year

The harvest of snook on the Florida Gulf Coast, including the Keys and Everglades, will be closed for one more year. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted five-to-one for the closure on Thursday. The season will re-open on the east coast on September 1, as scheduled.

Staff recommended that the season re-open on the Gulf Coast as well, after a two-and-a-half year closure following 2010’s cold-kill, but commissioners preferred caution. “If we have a bad winter this year, we will benefit from this caution,” commissioner Kenneth Wright said. “If we don’t have a bad winter, we will let all these breeding fish come through the slot. We’ll really have done something good and we’ll have protected some of these fish.”